Berkeley Leader

As it turns out, racing and paddling a boat made out of cardboard is kind of hard.

However, the experience made way for a lot of energy, a lot of teamwork, and a lot of laughs from Berkeley County School District’s Teacher Forum members and school resource officers last week when they came together for a summer retreat at Lake Moultrie.

Teacher Forum consists of current and past Teachers of the Year from around the school district, and it works to support, advocate and be a voice for students and teachers. The forum’s summer retreat was a day-long event held at Somerset Point in Pinopolis, and it was a time for the teachers to work with the SROs in a series of workshops and hands-on activities as they got ready for the upcoming school year.

This year’s retreat was called “Smash the Box: Head, Heart, & Hands,” and it came at the tail end of a week-long summer training session for SROs.

Nexton Elementary P.E. teacher Brittne Guerry, 2021 District Teacher of the Year, said the entire retreat was an opportunity for the SROs to join teachers and focus on the socio-emotional needs for students.

“We’re doing a lot of professional development today,” Guerry said. “It’s really focused on socio-emotional learning, student-driven learning, (and) getting kids out of the classroom.”

Guerry teamed up with Philip Simmons Elementary fourth-grade teacher Cynthia Zimmerman, 2022 District Teacher of the Year, to help lead the retreat. One of the activities teachers participated in involved bean bags and was called “Move and Be Moved” and is a game Guerry plays with her students.

Zimmerman said the teachers played the game a couple of times as a way to get the adults up and on their feet and moving while answering questions about each other.

“It just creates that playfulness that we want to go for and give them to remember this day,” Zimmerman said.

The teachers are feeling “super pumped” about the upcoming school year.

“This is definitely going to be our best year yet – not ‘best year ever’…because we always want that mindset of continued growth,” Zimmerman said, “but we are super excited for Berkeley County Teacher Forum and, most importantly, our students.”

The word “box” was said a lot during the retreat, and everyone has heard that expression before: “think outside the box.” However, Guerry and Zimmerman had brainstormed with others on ways to better use that expression and incorporate it into the retreat.

“I want to smash it – let’s smash the box,” Guerry said, adding, “That’s where ‘smash the box’ comes from – it’s getting away from the ordinary, doing something extraordinary and giving people experiences – creating moments for them for the rest of their lives.”

Everything at the retreat was nautical-themed, from the décor Teacher Forum used at Somerset Point, to the biggest activity teachers and SROs participated in, which involved them splitting into teams and making “boats” out of cardboard boxes and duct tape. The teams then did a quick race on the lake; a member of each team would captain the boats and try to paddle them offshore a ways before turning around to head back to the beach, all while being cheered on by their teammates.

Some boats capsized almost immediately, some were able to do an entire lap – but everyone had a good time being outside and working together.  

Following the boat race, Cane Bay High law enforcement instructor Peter Wright said his team actually fared pretty well (“We weren’t even sure that the boat was going to float so we turned out pretty good”) and that it was a great team-building exercise that really tied into the “smash the box” theme.

“It’s not just ‘thinking outside the box’ – we want to take that one step further,” he said. “We want to destroy that box, and recreate…and make everything fresh and new, and something that can engage all of our stakeholders.”

The SROs actually knew about the boat-racing activity, but the teachers did not. The teams were given a list of clues on how to carry out the assignment prior to racing the boats.

“Every moment that we have, everything that we say – it’s a boat that we give people to either sink or swim,” Guerry said, adding, “Teamwork, adaptability, resilience – all of those BCSD life skills that we love, we don’t have to talk about it because these guys are actually doing it.”

The upcoming school year is one that teachers and students are going to start with a clean slate – “and we get to choose if we want to be traditional, or do we want to give people experiences that they don’t have?” Guerry said. “That’s what I want to do – play with cardboard and give experiences.”

Monica Kreber

kreberm@bcsdschools.net

Original source can be found here.